(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to heating devices using heat transfer fluid More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved heating system including heat storage means, heat exchange medium, and an ultraviolet light system to pre-heat the heat transfer fluid.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Heating systems or furnaces are well known for heating single rooms or entire structures. Such heating systems generally include a fluid medium for receiving heat from a heat source. Traditional heat sources include, for example, gas, coal, or oil fueled flame heaters; electric resistance heaters, and solar heaters. In such systems heated fluid medium is and then directed by conduits, piping and the like, to the to-beheated location. Traditionally, fluid mediums utilized for this heat transferring function include air, water, oil, glycol, and the like. When the fluid medium reaches its destination point, it is directed through a heat exchanger such as a radiator, base board system, air register and cold air return, and the like, whereby heat from the fluid medium is dispersed in the vicinity of the heat exchange. This exchange of heat increases the temperature of the space surrounding the heat exchange, and likewise, removes heat from the fluid medium thereby cooling the fluid. The cooled fluid is then returned to the heating chamber to receive additional heat and is then recycled to the heat exchange system.
A traditional hot water heating system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,154,021. In this instance, water is heated as the fluid medium and circulated through a heat exchange radiator at which a blower is utilized to pass air across the heat exchange tubes to extract the heat from the heat exchange to the surrounding area. The water is then returned to the storage and heating tank. U.S. Pat. No. 2,166,509 illustrates a slight variation of this particular system whereby vegetable oil is utilized as the fluid medium.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,079,087 and 3,891,817 disclose space heating systems illustrating various heating sources for the fluid medium. In these examples individual heating systems such as solar energy, electrical energy and microwave energy are utilized to heat the fluid medium. Variations on this theme are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,607,877 and 4,307,284. However, in these latter two references infra-red light energy is utilized to heat a fluid medium, which is either air or water, which medium is then directed to a heat exchange to extract the heat therefrom.
In all of these examples, a substantial amount of heat is necessary in the heating chamber in order to first raise the temperature of the fluid medium, and then to reheat the cooled fluid medium to a predetermined temperature before it is returned to the heat exchange. Such systems, require significant energy inputs in various form, and tend to be costly to run since a substantial heat input is necessary to the storage and heating chamber.
Other art known large commercial systems utilize waste heat for preheating the fluid medium prior to its heating or reheating in a fluid storage and heating chamber. However, in conventional space heating systems for homes and small buildings, there is no such waste heat available for fluid medium preheating. Thus, while the concept of preheating heat transfer fluid prior to the principal heating thereof is both known and very energy efficient, it is not applicable to space heating systems of the type described above. Thus, there is still a need for a heating furnace system for residential and small commercial structures which is efficient and inexpensive to operate.